It was a beautiful Saturday today, at least in the Northeast, and if you spent the day enjoying it, you might have missed one of the craziest days in recent NBA history. We got the entire life cycle of a rumor. It was great. It’s a good argument for staying in the house all day endlessly refreshing every basketball news site. Not that I do that myself or anything.

And oh yeah, the Finals are still happening, and they’re shaping up to be pretty nice. Check out Chris Sheridan’s latest to find out which start is considering retirement. Also, the draft is coming up, and we’ve got a new mock up from Joe Kotoch. Give it a look.

Now let’s get right to that rumor that ate up all the column inches and air time all day:

Over the last fourteen hours, the possibility of Doc Rivers coaching the Clippers has gone from a crazy idea to a genuine possibility to a seeming likelihood to apparently not going to happen, and for that whole time, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has been completely on top of everything. Here’s an excerpt from his latest Doc story, but click through for as good a summary of the whole situation as you’re going to find anywhere: “Discussions over a blockbuster deal to send Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett to the Los Angeles Clippers – with Doc Rivers as coach – reached an impasse on Saturday afternoon, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Clippers are willing to part with center DeAndre Jordan and a first-round draft pick for Garnett – and the rights to hire Rivers – but so far have refused to include Boston’s desire for point guard Eric Bledsoe into the package, sources said. Since the February trade deadline, Bledsoe had been a part of talks for Garnett, and more recently, Rivers, but that changed Saturday morning, league sources said. The Clippers were no longer willing to part with Bledsoe, sources told Y! Sports. If the deal completely falls apart, Celtics management and Rivers are still committed to his return to Boston as coach. Boston general manager Danny Ainge has requested Bledsoe and a second first-round pick, but all involved believe that Bledsoe’s inclusion into the package would get a deal done.”

Comments

So Lakers are OK with losing Howard for nothing (I’m sure that will please Kobe). Lakers could go 5 or more years without making the playoffs. But at least they won’t pay heavy luxury taxes.

Danny Ainge is the one who will get desperate as June 30 approaches. Hollins may be just as good as Doc Rivers. CP3 wouldn’t go anywhere. Clippers just need to be patient and they can always trade Bledsoe in July. So what does Ainge end up doing? Does he trade Pierce or save money by waiving him. At that point Garnet could ask to be traded to Clippers or might consider retirement.